Lawsuit creates problems for local chess tournament
Adam Young
Issue date: 10/24/07 Section: News

Though a $20 million identity-theft lawsuit involving Texas Tech, two
Tech employees and the United States Chess Federation has not
officially been served to the university, its accusations are blamed
for $10,000 in lost sponsorship.

A lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court in the Southern District of
New York names the university and faculty members Susan Polgar, a
managing director in the Office of the Provost, and Paul Truong, a
unit associate director in the Office of the Provost, as defendants of
the suit, according to court documents provided by Tech's Office of
General Counsel and Sam Sloan, the plaintiff in the suit and an
independent book publisher who resides in the Bronx, N.Y.

According to documents provided by Tech, Sloan accuses Truong of
posting obscene comments under Sloan's name on multiple Internet
forums, including the USCF blog, while using Tech computers.

Victor Mellinger, senior associate general counsel at Tech, said the
university had not officially been served with the lawsuit as of
Tuesday and did know how the university obtained the court documents.

Though Sloan did not return phone calls Tuesday, on Oct. 4 he said he
has proof that many of the 3,000 comments made using his name between
June 2005 and September 2007 were made from IP addresses owned by
Tech.

However, Jim Brink, vice provost at Tech, said he and officials with
the university's Information Technology department do not believe
Sloan's accusations are valid.

"We change our IP addresses frequently, and so these evidently all
came from the same IP address," he said. "You don't even know, when
you send something, what IP address there is because we're constantly
changing them."

Mellinger said federal law would protect the university from liability
if the comments were posted from Tech computers.

Sloan said the actions he believes Polgar and Truong committed damaged
his reputation because they were made during the time frame of USCF
board-member elections in July.

Sloan, Polgar and Truong were campaigning for executive board seats,
with Sloan running for re-election, he said.

Polgar and Truong, who are married, denied the allegations Sloan made
against them.

Though Polgar said the allegations are untrue, she believes they have
damaged her reputation and potentially lost $10,000 in sponsorship
money from a private donor for a series of chess tournaments to be
hosted Nov. 9 through Nov. 16 at Tech.

"I understand that (the potential donor) may not want to be associated
right now with the event because of the accusations, and I'm hoping
that maybe sometime in the future he'll come back to sponsor other
chess events," she said, "but in the mean time, we are finding other
sponsors."

Polgar said the Susan Polgar National Open for Girls, Boys and
International Open is cosponsored and co-organized by the Susan Polgar
Foundation, Tech Knight Raiders chess club and the Susan Polgar
Institute for Chess Excellence, and despite the initial loss of some
funding, is scheduled to continue.

"The event is going on as planned because the community is very
supportive, including the Lubbock Visitor's Bureau and other private
sponsors locally and outside of Lubbock," she said. Though the lawsuit
has brought unwanted negative publicity to the university, Brink said
it has not jeopardized Polgar and Truong's futures at Tech.

"We have not changed our attitude toward them nor our expectations of
the fruitfulness this relationship can bare one bit as the result of
this," he said.

According to the postings by Dr. Eric Moskow on the New York Times
Gambit Chess Blog, he did NOT withdraw from the Reshevsky Memorial
because of the lawsuit. He withdrew in two stages:

1. While running for USCF election, Susan stated several times on her
blog that Eric Moscow had promised her one million dollars in
sponsorship money. After this scandal broke, Eric Moscow called Susan
Polgar and said that rather than give the money directly to her, he
would give it to Texas Tech University earmarked to be used for
Susan's programs. Susan rejected this proposal, stating that she
wanted the million dollars to be given directly to her. Dr. Moskow did
not like this and for that reason canceled his sponsorship programs
EXCEPT FOR the Reshevsky Memorial.

2. A few days ago, Dr. Moskow called Bill Goichberg, Sam Sloan and
Susan Polgar with a detailed proposal to settle this lawsuit. Bill
Goichberg and Sam Sloan accepted Dr. Moscow's proposal, but Susan
Polgar rejected it. More than that, Susan Polgar implied that she was
considering bringing a new lawsuit against the USCF. Since Dr. Moskow
disapproves of lawsuits, Dr. Moskow cut all funding for Susan Polgar
projects.

See:

http://gambit.blogs.nytimes.com/2007...es-had-enough/
NY Times: Interview With the U.S.C.F. President; a Chess Sponsor Says
He's Had Enough

http://susanpolgar.blogspot.com/2007...ing-facts.html Susan
Polgar Stating the Facts

http://gambit.blogs.nytimes.com/2007...s-on-her-blog/
Polgar Responds on her Blog

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/08/nyregion/08chess.html NY Times:
Chess Group Officials Accused of Using Internet to Hurt Rivals

http://gambit.blogs.nytimes.com/2007...new-structure/
NY Times: Founder of AF4C: The Chess Federation Needs a New Structure

Sam Sloan

On Oct 24, 4:55 pm, samsloan wrote:

"We have not changed our attitude toward them nor our expectations of
the fruitfulness this relationship can bare one bit as the result of
this," he said.


Try to take your mind out of the gutter, Mr. Sloan,
while you are typing quotations. It's "bear", not
"bare". It's a big, furry omnivorous animal. No,
they only mate with mature females -- why do you
ask?


-- help bot

Though the lawsuit has brought unwanted negative publicity to the
university, Brink said
it has not jeopardized Polgar and Truong's futures at Tech.

GM Larry Evans wryly commented that such endorsements usually spell
the kill of death for those who are accused.


samsloan wrote:
Lawsuit creates problems for local chess tournament
Adam Young
Issue date: 10/24/07 Section: News

Though a $20 million identity-theft lawsuit involving Texas Tech, two
Tech employees and the United States Chess Federation has not
officially been served to the university, its accusations are blamed
for $10,000 in lost sponsorship.

A lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court in the Southern District of
New York names the university and faculty members Susan Polgar, a
managing director in the Office of the Provost, and Paul Truong, a
unit associate director in the Office of the Provost, as defendants of
the suit, according to court documents provided by Tech's Office of
General Counsel and Sam Sloan, the plaintiff in the suit and an
independent book publisher who resides in the Bronx, N.Y.

According to documents provided by Tech, Sloan accuses Truong of
posting obscene comments under Sloan's name on multiple Internet
forums, including the USCF blog, while using Tech computers.

Victor Mellinger, senior associate general counsel at Tech, said the
university had not officially been served with the lawsuit as of
Tuesday and did know how the university obtained the court documents.

Though Sloan did not return phone calls Tuesday, on Oct. 4 he said he
has proof that many of the 3,000 comments made using his name between
June 2005 and September 2007 were made from IP addresses owned by
Tech.

However, Jim Brink, vice provost at Tech, said he and officials with
the university's Information Technology department do not believe
Sloan's accusations are valid.

"We change our IP addresses frequently, and so these evidently all
came from the same IP address," he said. "You don't even know, when
you send something, what IP address there is because we're constantly
changing them."

Mellinger said federal law would protect the university from liability
if the comments were posted from Tech computers.

Sloan said the actions he believes Polgar and Truong committed damaged
his reputation because they were made during the time frame of USCF
board-member elections in July.

Sloan, Polgar and Truong were campaigning for executive board seats,
with Sloan running for re-election, he said.

Polgar and Truong, who are married, denied the allegations Sloan made
against them.

Though Polgar said the allegations are untrue, she believes they have
damaged her reputation and potentially lost $10,000 in sponsorship
money from a private donor for a series of chess tournaments to be
hosted Nov. 9 through Nov. 16 at Tech.

"I understand that (the potential donor) may not want to be associated
right now with the event because of the accusations, and I'm hoping
that maybe sometime in the future he'll come back to sponsor other
chess events," she said, "but in the mean time, we are finding other
sponsors."

Polgar said the Susan Polgar National Open for Girls, Boys and
International Open is cosponsored and co-organized by the Susan Polgar
Foundation, Tech Knight Raiders chess club and the Susan Polgar
Institute for Chess Excellence, and despite the initial loss of some
funding, is scheduled to continue.

"The event is going on as planned because the community is very
supportive, including the Lubbock Visitor's Bureau and other private
sponsors locally and outside of Lubbock," she said. Though the lawsuit
has brought unwanted negative publicity to the university, Brink said
it has not jeopardized Polgar and Truong's futures at Tech.

"We have not changed our attitude toward them nor our expectations of
the fruitfulness this relationship can bare one bit as the result of
this," he said.

On Oct 24, 7:14 pm, samsloan wrote:

According to the postings by Dr. Eric Moskow on the New York Times
Gambit Chess Blog, he did NOT withdraw from the Reshevsky Memorial
because of the lawsuit. He withdrew in two stages:

1. While running for USCF election, Susan stated several times on her
blog that Eric Moscow had promised her one million dollars in
sponsorship money. After this scandal broke, Eric Moscow called Susan
Polgar and said that rather than give the money directly to her, he
would give it to Texas Tech University earmarked to be used for
Susan's programs. Susan rejected this proposal, stating that she
wanted the million dollars to be given directly to her. Dr. Moskow did
not like this and for that reason canceled his sponsorship programs
EXCEPT FOR the Reshevsky Memorial.

2. A few days ago, Dr. Moskow called Bill Goichberg, Sam Sloan and
Susan Polgar with a detailed proposal to settle this lawsuit. Bill
Goichberg and Sam Sloan accepted Dr. Moscow's proposal, but Susan
Polgar rejected it. More than that, Susan Polgar implied that she was
considering bringing a new lawsuit against the USCF. Since Dr. Moskow
disapproves of lawsuits, Dr. Moskow cut all funding for Susan Polgar
projects.

See:

http://gambit.blogs.nytimes.com/2007...es-had-enough/
NY Times: Interview With the U.S.C.F. President; a Chess Sponsor Says
He's Had Enough

http://susanpolgar.blogspot.com/2007...ing-facts.html Susan
Polgar Stating the Facts

http://gambit.blogs.nytimes.com/2007...s-on-her-blog/
Polgar Responds on her Blog

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/08/nyregion/08chess.html NY Times:
Chess Group Officials Accused of Using Internet to Hurt Rivals

http://gambit.blogs.nytimes.com/2007...new-structure/
NY Times: Founder of AF4C: The Chess Federation Needs a New Structure

Goddesschess has added several more blogs to this issue. Somebody
should please collect all these in one place and make a list:

http://goddesschess.blogspot.com/200...exas-tech.html

http://goddesschess.blogspot.com/200...an-polgar.html

http://susanpolgar.blogspot.com/2007..._23.html#links

Sam Sloan

On Oct 26, 1:31 am, " wrote:
Though the lawsuit has brought unwanted negative publicity to the
university, Brink said
it has not jeopardized Polgar and Truong's futures at Tech.

GM Larry Evans wryly commented that such endorsements usually spell
the kill of death for those who are accused.


Larry,

Are you sure it was not "kiss of death?" :^)

Cheers,
J.D. Walker

KISS OF DEATH

Larry,

Are you sure it was not "kiss of death?" :^)

Cheers,
J.D. Walker

Yes. It was a typo.Kiss not kill. Me bad.


j.d.walker wrote:
On Oct 26, 1:31 am, " wrote:
Though the lawsuit has brought unwanted negative publicity to the
university, Brink said
it has not jeopardized Polgar and Truong's futures at Tech.

GM Larry Evans wryly commented that such endorsements usually spell
the kill of death for those who are accused.


Larry,

Are you sure it was not "kiss of death?" :^)

Cheers,
J.D. Walker

On Oct 27, 5:57 pm, " wrote:
KISS OF DEATH

Larry,

Are you sure it was not "kiss of death?" :^)

Cheers,
J.D. Walker

Yes. It was a typo.Kiss not kill. Me bad.


Ah, I see. So I can adjust my imagery ...

dramatization follows

A paunchy gray haired academic walks over to the two accused and, in
the manner of Vito Corleone, plants a wet one on the foreheads of
each. Then, turning to the reporters and the assembled crowd he
mumbles into the microphone: "it has not jeopardized their futures in
my service..." He then moves towards the back of the stage and falls
into whispers with two burly fellows in slick suits. He briefly
motions in the general direction of the accused. The two thugs nod.
They depart into the darkness of the backstage. A raven screams in
the distance...

end dramatization

Much better. :^)


Cheers,
J.D. Walker

On Oct 27, 7:57 pm, " wrote:
KISS OF DEATH

Larry,

Are you sure it was not "kiss of death?" :^)

Cheers,
J.D. Walker

Yes. It was a typo.Kiss not kill. Me bad.



j.d.walker wrote:
On Oct 26, 1:31 am, " wrote:
Though the lawsuit has brought unwanted negative publicity to the
university, Brink said
it has not jeopardized Polgar and Truong's futures at Tech.

GM Larry Evans wryly commented that such endorsements usually spell
the kill of death for those who are accused.

Larry,

Are you sure it was not "kiss of death?" :^)

Cheers,
J.D. Walker- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

It looks like the KISS OF DEATH to me. I taught public school
(secondary) and this is exactly
what you here when your contract isn't being renewed. In fact, you are
traied by other teachers
to recoginize the KISS OF DEATH. The administration states something
that they aren't going to do.

AS similar death kiss is "I will do everything within my power to help
you." This means you are ****ed.

Texas Tech probably won't fire them, but when it comes to contract
renewal, there will be
lost funding, and their job will end. However, if Troung gets charged,
they cut cut the program
out at the end of this semester.

I might add, had Paul taken responsiblity, apologzied to the victims,
and resigned, the police might not have gotten invovled.

All I want is for these death threats to end. Money is secondary, but
a money punishment appears the only way.

Marcus Roberts

Marcus Roberts

"Because of the pending litigation, Ms. Polgar's comments were general in
nature. Ms. Polgar's conduct is in marked contrast to the behavior of Mr.
Sam Sloan; but what, really, does he have to lose? His reputation? His
honor? Would one expect decent behavior from Mr. Sloan?"

"In the American justice system, in both civil and criminal cases,
allegations filed in a Complaint are not accepted as proven facts until a
judgment has been rendered to that effect, either by trial to a court or
a
trial by jury. One would think, though, that we live in France, where the
system works entirely to the advantage of bureaucrats and police - one is
presumed to be guilty unless one can prove oneself innocent

True for legal liability. Not true for actual guilt/innocence. You know,
I
believe Darwin lost a court case or two (where juries and judges refused
to
accept the truth).


Jan is a lawyer.

But of course, why credit antithetical views, when one can resort to Darwin?

There is zero obligation to wait for a legal verdict before deciding
whether
scientific evidence is substantial or not.

So says Fide-all-the-way, USCF Delegate, Eric Johnson.

What is the rule of law to him? And to what 'science' does he resort in this
instance?

Phil Innes

ECJ